The present invention relates to a coupling suitable for use in connecting together two pipes, such as for example pieces of pipework or one piece of pipework and a member for delivering or receiving fluid such as a pump, a manifold, an actuator, a flow-rate or pressure regulator, a reservoir
Couplings are known, in particular from documents FR-A-2 908 494 and FR-A-2 910 109, that comprise a body defining an internal channel and made up of two body parts each having means for connecting the channel to a pipe. The connection means may be of various types, e.g. including a male tubular section having teat or Christmas tree-shaped teeth for engaging by force inside the pipe, a female tubular section provided with a toothed washer or a clamp for quick-coupling the pipe, a latch that is movable radially relative to the body. The body is made as a single molding, but that prevents making the coupling in a modular manner in order to simplify fabrication. It is necessary to provide a plurality of molds for fabricating bodies that associate the various types of connection that are in use.
Other couplings are known in which the body is made up of two independent parts. The body parts then have end portions arranged to enable the first and second parts to be mutually engaged and secured to each other. The end portions have means for mutually retaining each other such as snap-fastener means or clip-fastener means operating in an axial engagement direction. Unfortunately, most of the forces that act externally on such a coupling have an axial component. This means that the strength of the connection between the body parts is relatively weak.